Middle Ages Europe

Middle Ages Europe

Role of Feudalism

In the Middle Ages feudalism was a political system which the nobles were granted the use of land that belonged to the king. But, the nobles had to agree to give their loyalty and military service to the king.

A way to look at the feudal system is by looking at a pyramid. The pyramid had levels like how the people were categorized. People who made up the feudal system was The Lord, nobles, vassal, knights, and serfs. The Lord would grant land to a noble if they gave their loyalty and served in the military for him. The knights horsemen who pledged to defend their lords land in exchange for fiefs. Under the knights were the the serfs. The serfs could not lawfully leave the place where they were born they were bound to the land, but they weren't slaves.

The Manor

During the Middle Ages the manor system was the basic economic arrangement.the manor system was to help a set of rights and obligations between The Lord and the serfs. The Lord gave the serfs housing, farmaland and protection. And in return the serfs was to tend The Lords land, care for the animals, and maintain the estate. The serfs normally never traveld over 25 miles from their land. But, the manors usually only covered a few square miles of land.

When serfs worked on their land, they did a lot of farming. They farmed a lot of grains (wheat, rye, barley, and oats), and vegetables (peas, beans, onions, and beets). The serfs normally made all their food, and goods, but the there are a few things they had to buy which was salt and iron an a few other things like millstone.

The Role of Knights

Knights were mounted horsemen who pledged to decent the lords land. In return The Lord gives the knights land like a fief for a vassal. Knights were to protect the king and all the others on the kings land. The knights wore armor for when they went to battle with other people.

Technology and Warfare

In the Middle Ages they didn't have as good of equipment as we do. They used things like trebuchet, tortoise, mangonel, battering rams and others. They didn't have the technology like we do now, so they had to come up with other ideas. The trebuchet launches things so it would help them fight in battles. They used crossbows in battles too. O

Catholic Church

The pope was the head of the Catholic Churches. Christianity was a big religion back in the Middle Ages, and they believed the pope was the voice of God. The Middle Ages also had a law that was based for the church which was the collection of tithes which was church taxes. There was certain king that believed they were higher then the pope and the church, but that was only try to some people.

Crusades

The crusades was about the Christians wanting to get Jerusalem back, but they keep going to war with Muslim. When they win it in the first crusade, the Muslims get it back in the second. Although theMuslims had Jerusalem, the Christians spread their religion throughout Europe when they were going to war. In the end the crusades help the king become more powerful, the popes have less power, and religious intolerance grows.

Monarchy

In the Middle Ages they had parliament which was to make laws for a nation. King Edward wanted to raise taxes for the war against the French so parliment mad that official. . Also the had the generals estate which helped increase royal power against the nobility, but never became an independent force that limited the kings power.

Hundreds Year War

The hundreds year war was between France and England. They were fighting over the plague and they thought everyone was going to die. They were fighting on the French land. The war was going on from 1337-1453. The French ended up winning the war. In the end the war changed the style of warfare for Europe.